A travelling Japanese film festival connects with Indian audiences

The Japan Film and Music festival in collaboration with the Japan Foundation has returned to Chennai after a pause of three years to commemorate 70 years of diplomatic relations between India and Japan. After Mumbai and Chennai (where it was held at PVR, Express Avenue) the travelling festival is headed to Bengaluru next where it will open at PVR Orion Mall and will run from December 9 to 11.

Talking about India and Japan’s artistic exchange over the years, Koji Sato, director- general of Japan Foundation, New Delhi said that Japan owes a lot to India and it’s “ethos’‘. About the creative festival he said that, “We are bringing in many contemporary films of various genres including anime and the past works of Makoto Shinkai including music.”  Shinkai is a Japanese filmmaker, manga artist and author. His 2016 film Your Name surpassed Japanese box office records and was lauded internationally.

Speaking about what connects the Indian audience to Japan, the director-general commented that “People share similar feelings and emotions based on contemporary modern city life. The young generation is sharing the same life experience and emotions which is not limited to animation or Makato Shinkai.

Elaborating on the cultural confluence of Indian and Japanese culture, the Japanese consul-general in Chennai, Taga Masayuki said, “In the early 20th Century Japanese intellectuals and Indian intellectuals and artists – their work impacted the minds of Japanese people very much. Today we also have excellent economic and cultural relations.” Further, he alluded to the deep shadows cast by the works of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s influence on Indian and Japanese cinema. 

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